By Matthew Longcore
In an article titled The Way of the WASP: The Darien Sport Shop, Darien, Connecticut, Muffy Aldrich of Salt Water New England describes the Darien Sport Shop as follows:
“The suits and more formal items were in one area, with skis and lacrosse sticks in another, and a lot of pink and green throughout.”
Having grown up in nearby Westport, I have to agree with Muffy about The Darien Sport Shop. Each town in Fairfield County had a hometown clothier. Fairfield had The Fairfield Store, Westport had Mitchells, New Canaan had Family Britches, and Greenwich had Richards.
Each of these stores had their share of preppy items, but the overall aesthetic of The Darien Sport shop was by far the preppiest. If the pro shop at your country club expanded and became a department store, it would look a lot like this.
The Official Preppy Handbook describes the preppy culture of Darien perfectly:
“There are some nationally established Preppy frats, where most of the members are from Darien and almost all went to Prep school in Massachusetts – Psi U and St. Anthony Hall fit this mold most consistently.”
My alma mater, Trinity College, had plenty of Darien preppies in Psi U and St. A’s, just as described by the Preppy Handbook. They all shopped at the Darien Sport Shop. It was a rite of passage.
Founded in 1946, the Darien Sport Shop continues to thrive. Along with the Noroton Yacht Club and the Tokeneke Club, this place is an institution.
